Dreams Do Come True
by deslyncullen
Summary: One shot for - the "Remember When This Was Fun" contest! Bella's memories of spending time with Grandma Swan, learning her family history & meeting the man of her dreams. My take of where Bella's powers came from.


_Remember When This Was Fun Contest_

_Number of Prompt Chosen: _23

_Pen-name: Deslyncullen_

_Twitter account: _Deslyncullen

_Beta: Project Team Beta - _Pain Jane & BelleDuJour

_Title: Dreams Do Come True_

_Word Count: 6,049_

_Rating: K_

_Pairing: Bella and Edward_

_Summary: _One-shot - Bella's memories of spending time with Grandma Swan, hearing her family history, and what happened after meeting the man of her dreams. (My take on where Bella's powers came from).

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Twilight. All characters, some of the dialog and content, belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**_Dreams Do Come True_**

Contest: Remember When This Was Fun

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. The entire saga belong to Stephenie Meyer, I just tweaked it a bit.

Summary: One-shot - Bella's memories of spending time with Grandma Swan & what happened after meeting the man of her dreams

"Put on your shoes, we're almost to Grandma's house."

Whenever my dad said those words to me, my heart would beat faster. The anticipation of spending time at Grandma Swan's house and listening to her incredible stories were the highlights of my life.

Now, I'm the one repeating those words, and they have the same effect on my kids. The mention of Grandma Swan's house has them running around like cyclones, bursting with energy. I smiled as I looked at their adorable faces, watching them struggling to get their shoes on, knowing that as soon as they got inside, their shoes would be abandoned until it was time to leave.

They hated wearing shoes, hats and coats; and if they could get away with running around naked, they would; they are such free spirits - taking Grandma Swan's love of nature to the extreme. They love nothing better than running around in the woods half-naked and bare-footed like wild animals. I knew exactly how they felt.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan Cullen. I'm twenty nine-years old, and I'm the luckiest woman alive. I'm married to the most extraordinary man who ever walked the earth, and I have two adorable kids.

My parents were divorced, and I lived with my mother in Phoenix until my junior year in High School, but when I was little, I visited my father in Forks during school breaks. Every Sunday, my dad and I spent the day at Grandma Swan's. I had a calendar on my wall, and I crossed off the days, getting more and more excited the closer to Sunday it got. I do the same with my children because I want them to have that same unique bond with her.

My grandmother lived on the edge of town, and you could walk directly into the woods from three sides of her house. When I was a child, that was how I pictured the grandmother's house in _Little Red Riding Hood. _I expected to peek into the woods and see the Big Bad Wolf. One day I could have sworn I saw one, but my dad said it was just my imagination. My grandmother was more understanding; she told me if I had seen a wolf, then she believed me, but that was our secret. Then she told me a story about werewolves.

"I know a scary story about werewolves and vampires." she said.

"I love scary stories."

"In the old days, the Indians believed that, by turning into wolves, they were better able to protect their tribe. About a hundred years ago, some of the wolves met vampires hunting in the woods. They wanted to kill the vampires because vampires were their natural enemies, but the leader of the coven was able to convince the chief that they were different from others of their kind because they hunted animals instead of humans. The chief believed him, but he thought even if they were civilized, there might always be a risk for humans to be around them because you never knew when they might get too hungry to resist. To safeguard his people, he made a treaty with the vampires. If the vampires stayed away from the reservation, the Indians would keep their secret."

That was my introduction into the land of the supernatural. We spoke about wolves, vampires, witches and other superstitions after that, but only when we were alone.

Grandma Swan is the best grandmother in the world, first to me and now to my kids. She is not actually my grandmother, but to me, she has always been, and will always be Grandma Swan. I don't remember when I started calling her grandma, but my dad told me the story. When I started school, all my friends had grandmothers, so I was terribly upset because I didn't have one too. On my next visit to Forks, she told me she would be my grandmother if I wanted her to be, so from then on, she became "Grandma Swan", and my kids call her "Grandma Swan" too.

No matter what she is to me, I will always love her, and it's not because of her delicious "mouth-watering goodies", or because she spoilt me rotten when I was little. I treasured the hours we spent in her garden or in the woods as she taught me about the world around me—passing on her love of nature. I thought of her as the female version of Dr. Doolittle because of her gentleness with the animals and the way they seem to be drawn toward her. I'm glad I inherited her compassion and her love for all living things.

It was only natural that I grew up dreaming of becoming a doctor or a vet. I was lucky to be able to follow that dream and majored in Geriatrics. I'm fortunate to have Grandma Swan. Most people are not lucky enough to spend much quality time with their elderly relatives. I know they will never be as fortunate as I am, but if I could prolong the life of one elderly person, so they could spend more time with their family, then I feel as if I'm doing something useful and rewarding with my life. My life would have been quite different without Grandma Swan's guidance and unconditional love.

On my sixteenth birthday, along with the Cinderella Sweet Sixteen party, she gave me a marvelous surprise. That was when I learned the truth about Grandma Swan and myself.

"Isabella," she said. "You're old enough to hear the story of our family."

My ears perked up. Hearing stories from my grandmother were better than reading any book, or watching TV.

"As you know, I'm not your grandmother."

I nodded. I already knew this. She was my great-grandmother, but to me, she has always been, and would always be Grandma Swan. As far as I knew, after Charlie's mom got married, she moved to Europe, but she returned when I was born.

"Centuries ago, in a small village in Scotland, a young girl became pregnant. Her parents never saw any boys coming to the house. She wasn't interested in anyone as far as they knew. Her father threatened to disown her, her mother begged her to tell them who was responsible so they could make the man do the right thing and marry her, but all the pleas and threats were in vain. She told them a beautiful angel who had come to her; she had fallen madly in love with him and allowed him to seduce her. She refused to say where she met the man whom she insisted was "an angel" or who his family was, so her father wanted nothing to do with her, but her mother was more understanding.

She took the girl to an old hut in the woods and cared for her through her pregnancy. During her pregnancy, the mother realized the baby was not normal, but her daughter still refused to tell her anything. When the baby was ready to be born, her lover came to help with the delivery. He had to cut her to take the baby, but he miraculously closed the wounds, which saved her life. Her mother saw how tender he was with her daughter and the baby, and she understood why her daughter had fallen in love with him. Since he saved her daughter from dying in childbirth, she promised to keep their secret. The baby was a girl; from the time she was born, she was beautiful. She had pale skin, chocolate brown eyes, and dark brown shiny hair. When they got back to the village, they made up a story of a relative dying in childbirth, and since the baby was born early, no one suspected anything. The child grew up like other children, but she never got sick. As she grew, her family realized she had a sixth sense. She had visions and was able to commune with nature. She was also knowledgeable about which plants were suitable for medicines and used this knowledge to heal both the people and animals in her village.

Her name was Isobel Mary. Over the years, many variations of her names were used for girls in our family. The names were passed along with the unique gifts inherited from their parents—mostly mothers, from generation to generation. She was the first in a long line of Swan baby girls born with this sixth sense. They all looked alike, no matter who the fathers were. The knowledge about healing plants was passed down from generation to generation until modern times, when people didn't seek out healers anymore. Now you are the latest in that line."

I had always known I was different, and Grandma Swan hinted at things, but she never went into details. Always saying, "one day it will all make sense." Well, today was that day. I wasn't scared of this revelation. In fact, I embraced the knowledge that I was different, special.

"What happened to her?"

"She continued to see her angel. Although she continued her romantic liaisons with her mystery man, she never had any other children. She lived a long and happy life with her lover and her daughter, and then she died peacefully in her bed."

"What I'm about to say is extremely important. This has to remain our secret."

She waited for me to promise before she continued.

"I'm that girl who was born over three hundred years ago." She was still staring at me. I was in shock. My mind kept going around in circles, trying to come up with a rational explanation. After I was able to think coherently, I asked:

"How is that possible?"

"My father is a vampire, and I inherited some of his traits. I'm what the legends call a Dhampir. When I was old enough to understand the importance of keeping a secret, my mother told me their story the first time she introduced me to him. Before that, he was just a stranger we had occasionally run into while gathering herbs and fruits in the forest. There, among the trees and the animals, we could be a real family. After my mother's death, he continued to watch over me. At the time, I never understood why she never wanted to become a vampire and live with him forever, but later, my father explained about mates to me. Although they loved each other, she was not his mate, so he never pressed her to become like him. If he had changed her, only to find his mate, he would have been compelled to leave her and follow his heart."

Growing up, she had told me stories about werewolves, fairies, witches, warlocks and vampires. At the time, I never realized the stories were real. There were vampires and witches in my own family.

"In the stories you told me, the vampires sparkled in the sun."

"I'm only part vampire, so I still have many human traits like a beating heart, my appetite for human food, and the sun doesn't affect me like a full vampire. I also continued to age. My father told me the aging process could be slowed down, and it would eventually stop altogether by drinking blood, but I couldn't bear the thought of drinking from a human. Also, it would look strange if I didn't age while still living in the village. To keep up appearances, I got married and had a daughter of my own. Although she was fully human, she was strong and healthy, and she had that sixth sense which became a trademark in Swan babies. I taught her about medicinal plants and how to decipher her dreams, just like my parents did for me. Decades later, my father came back from one of his travels with a story about a vampire named Carlisle who lived off animal blood, so I tried it. The blood worked that was when I stopped aging, and I've remained the same ever since. Over the following years, I watched my husband die and my daughter settled down with a family of her own, then, it was time to move on before people noticed that I wasn't aging. I enjoyed the tales my father told me about traveling to exotic places, so we traveled a lot, but I kept a close watch on my family.

We discovered half-breeds all over the world—some of them were like me, some chose fully human lives and died, then, we met one in South America over the last century who was entirely different. The boy we saw stopped aging when he became a teenager. We discovered that not every woman could get pregnant by a vampire, and not every woman survived the pregnancy. It might be the blood some of the women drank during their pregnancy, or it could be something different in the women that made the babies develop in a certain way—all I know is that there seem to be different combinations of vampire and human offspring all over the world.

She finally stopped. I guess she saw the wheels spinning in my head. I was fascinated by these revelations. Then something else struck me.

"Where is your father?"

She smiled. "He stayed with me for a long time, but eventually, he found his mate in Italy and settled there. He's extremely happy, and I visit them when I go to Europe. He saw you the last time we went to Italy, but I didn't introduce you to him. The plan was to tell you the full story and hope it didn't freak you out. If you took it well, the next time we traveled, I'd take you to meet him."

I wondered who he could be. I loved Italy and the festival of

"Were you sad because you never found your mate?"

"No, I've always been happy. I had my linage to protect. It has given me immense satisfaction over the years, but you have made me happiest of all. You remind me so much of my daughter. Sometimes I look at you, and I think you are an incarnation of her. I sense her presence over you very strongly."

"I don't understand. My dad thinks you're an elder relative who suddenly came back from Europe. Why would you reveal yourself to me and not to him?"

"I choose who to reveal myself to—mostly girls who reminded me of my daughter so every generation, in which a girl is born, I would show up claiming to be a long lost relative, and since all the Swan women look alike, it was easy for the family to believe me. Over the years, I watched over some of the girls—I watched as they became women and married like-minded males, some of whom could have been witches or warlocks in their own right. The blood became stronger and stronger over the centuries, all culminating in the creation of you, my beautiful Isabella."

She paused and looked at me closely. Maybe she wanted to see if I would freak out, but I was Okay with accepting weird things. Now I knew why.

"Plus, I've learned the boys in our family don't believe in the supernatural as much. Some of them had the gift, but they were afraid to embrace it. Charlie chose to pretend that he didn't have the gift. I've kept a close watch on him, but I knew I couldn't reveal myself. When you were born, I came back with my same story. Since Charlie's mother was already dead, and he never knew any other living relative, it was easy to convince him, and he was glad to have a woman around to help take care of you."

She handed me a little trunk. "This is a collection of journals kept by different Swan women over the centuries. They will give you details into the lives of the unique woman who are your ancestors."

"Thanks for trusting me with your story. I will treasure the journals and add my own to it. When I have a daughter, I'll pass them down to her, so she can see how blessed she is, just as I'm blessed to have you in my life."

My life would have taken a totally different turn without my Grandma Swan. I remembered, birthday parties, trips and all the memorable things she had done for me over the years, but most importantly, she introduced me to the man of my dreams, literally. I had been dreaming of him all my life. I never knew he existed until the day I met him, almost a year after Grandma Swan revealed our history to me. He looked the same as he did in my dreams. It was hard to convince myself that he was real. Even more astounding was the fact that she knew who he was all along. I would tell her about my dreams, and she always helped me decipher them. Every time I dreamed of this mystery man, getting frustrated because he was too perfect to exist for real, she would reassure me that we would meet some day when the time was right.

I looked at Edward, sitting in the driver's seat and smiled. I thought back to the day we met.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Isabella, I have someone I want you to meet. He is the son of an old family friend who has recently moved back to the area." I had just walked in the door for my weekly visit. I followed the sound of her voice to the living room.

I stopped short as I saw her visitor. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips, but his eyes were careful. As he got up to shake my hand, I forced myself to move closer. How could this be? I must be dreaming.

"Hi Isabella, my name is Edward Cullen."

"Bella, everyone calls me Bella."

"OK, Bella it is." He smiled, dazzling me. I shook my head to break the spell and reached out for his proffered hand. When my hand touched his, I felt a shock; like static electricity going from his palm to mine, and running right up my arm. I snatched my hand back immediately.

He had this confused look on his face. Well, that made two of us. I didn't understand what that was all about. I made my way to a chair as far away from him as possible.

"Isabella, there's something you should know about Edward and his family." I turned my full attention back to Grandma Swan.

"Remember that story I told you about the wolves and the vampires in the forest?" I remembered it clearly. The day I thought I saw a wolf was the first time she told me that story.

"Edward's family is the coven in the story, and the wolves were Billy's grandfather and other Quileute elders from the reservation in La Push." I looked up at Edward, I was shocked. I couldn't believe that this beautiful boy was a vampire or that he was old as someone's grandfather or great-grandfather. He smiled and winked at me.

"How old are you?" The question shot out of my mouth.

"Seventeen," he answered promptly.

"And how long have you been seventeen?"

His lips twitched as he stared at me. "A while. I was changed in 1918" he admitted at last.

I stared at him. I'm sure my mouth was opened. He looked extremely young. What could have happened to make someone change him?

"I was dying of Spanish influenza, my parents were already dead, and Carlisle promised my mom he'd take care of me. She must have guessed what he was and knew he could save me from death."

He answered my unspoken thought; or did I say that out loud? He has this ability to dazzle me and my mouth to brain-filter seems to have deserted me. I couldn't think straight when I looked at him.

Grandma Swan excused herself, so we went outside on the porch. We spent all afternoon and evening talking as if we were making up for lost time. The more we talked, the more I felt connected to him. The next day was the same. After that weekend, Edward and I were inseparable, but from that first evening, he said I should be afraid of him because he wasn't as immune to my blood as Grandma Swan.

He said, "You're like my own personal brand of heroin."

According to him, my blood was made just to attract him. I chose to ignore his warning because I knew he wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with him.

After another vivid dream about Edward that night, I woke up feeling at peace. About three things I was absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. Third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

There was no decision to make. Nothing could keep me away from him. I finally got to meet the flesh and blood version of my dream man. What more could any woman ask for? I may have been in love with him even before I met him.

He picked me up for school on Monday after Charlie left for work. When we pulled up in the parking lot, everyone stopped what they had been doing and turned in our direction.

"Everybody's staring." I could understand the draw. I was walking across the lot with a boy who looked like a model. His Ray Bans and his disheveled hair only made him look sexy. Not to mention the sleek silver car we just exited.

"Not that guy. No, he just looked. Breaking all the rules now anyways." Then he made some vague remark about going to hell.

When he introduced me to his siblings that first day at school, Alice pulled me into a tight hug. I was so surprised you could have knocked me down with a feather. Edward looked at her with a strange expression on his face.

"Bella and I will be great friends, I've seen it," she said to explain her effusive greeting.

"Please excuse my sister—she's a little impulsive sometimes." Edward whispered in my ear.

"That's alright." I mumbled.

That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the Cullens and me. As Alice predicted, we became extremely close. She and Rosalie were the sisters I had always wanted, and she became my best friend. Emmett and Jasper became my older brothers. I finally had the family I had always dreamed of. It wasn't easy being an only child.

I learned about Edward's gift for reading minds, and at first, I was upset that he couldn't read mine, but I was also relieved. There were lots of things going through my mind that I didn't want him to know about.

Alice told me about her visions, and I was glad to have someone besides Grandma Swan to share my dreams with. In private, I would teasingly call her a fairy, and she would call me a witch, then we'd collapse on the floor giggling uncontrollably. I also learned that Jasper was an empath.

A few weeks later, we were enjoying some alone time in the meadow—turns out the same meadow I went to with Grandma Swan was also his favorite place—when he told me about his rebellion against Carlisle.

"I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice... My face... Even my smell. As if I'd need any of that. As if you could outrun me. As if you could fight me off!" To prove his point, he dashed around the meadow, then he uprooted a tree, and flung it across the clearing.

"I'm designed to kill. I've killed people before."

"I don't care."

He told me about the path of destruction he led for a while before coming to his senses and returning home. I knew he wanted me to be aware of what could happen to me if I decided to become a vampire, but I finally found him and there was nothing he could do to keep me away. I knew deep down that there was no going back. When he realized that I wasn't afraid of him and that I was in for the long haul, he finally gave up trying to scare me off, and asked me to forgive him.

"You don't know how long I've waited for you," he said.

Those words made me realize that he dreamt of me too, so I decided to tell him about my dreams.

"Edward, I don't know how to explain this, but I've dreamt about you my whole life."

"That's what you dream about? Being a monster?" he said, but he had a smile on his face, so I hoped he was just kidding.

"I dream about being with you forever," I said, so there would be no doubts in his mind, I added, "I think we were destined to be together, like Grandma Swan's mother and her vampire lover. I know they were not mated, but they started a dynasty. Now here we are, brought together by the daughter of the woman who started it all, and it was your father, Carlisle, and his vegetarian diet that made her start drinking animal blood, which stopped the aging process. Who knows how much longer she could have survived without blood or what would have happened to her body."

He stared deep into my eyes, gently brushing his knuckles along my cheek, "and so the lion fell in love with the lamb," he said, smiling.

"What a stupid lamb," I chuckled, playing his game.

"What a sick, masochistic lion."

We both laughed. I was relieved that he finally accepted the fact that we were made for each other, and I'm sure he was relieved that all the games were behind us. All our cards were on the table, and we accepted each other flaws and all. We spent every possible minute together.

One day he nearly gave me a heart attack. I was speaking to my mother on the phone when he suddenly appeared in my room.

"How did you get in here?"

"The window."

"Do you do that a lot?"

"Just the past couple of months."

That night was the first time we kissed, and there was nothing I enjoyed more than his kisses. From then on, I slept in his arms every night, and I've been doing it ever since. Before we were married, he wouldn't do more than kissing and light petting. Sometimes our kissing got really intense, but his self-control was incredible, so he was able to stop before we got carried away. His kisses could melt every bone in my body.

After a whirlwind romance, Edward asked me to marry him. What could I say but "yes", so we got married right after high school. A few of the vindictive girls in school were spreading a vicious rumor that I was pregnant, so I had to get married. Edward and his family were ready to declare war, but I knew I was a virgin, so it didn't faze me in the least. They would all look like idiots when there was no baby.

Alice planned a fairytale wedding, which we all enjoyed. Our honeymoon on Isle Esme was out of this world—the island was a gift to Esme from Carlisle. It set the stage for the passionate relationship we have. Our first four years of marriage went by like a dream. Then I got pregnant with twins. It was not a particularly difficult pregnancy for me because Grandma Swan told us what to expect. I spent time at her house, so she could be there through it all. Between her and Carlisle, I made it through. During the delivery, something went wrong, so Edward had to change me. Like Grandma Swan and our children, I came out as a half-reed.

After my change, all the gifts I grew up with became enhanced. One of Carlisle's friends helped me understand my shield better; I discovered I could use it to protect anyone around me. Plus, my senses became more acute, and I finally had a photographic memory.

I love my life. I have everything I dreamed of and more. For now, we're content with our family, or at least I am, we don't know if it's possible, but Edward wants more kids. I have established myself and have a permanent position at the hospital, so I may consider it. Having another little Edward would be fantastic.

I thought of the words to a song I heard recently. When I listened to the song, it felt as if Bill Owens had written about my life.

_Dolly Parton - Dreams Do Come True Lyrics_

_(Bill Owens)_

Like the morning sun

His love moved across every inch of my body

And the heat from the fire burned me up with desire

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven for sure

This morning when I opened my eyes

There to my surprise

Lay that angel I thought had been only a dream

And so I said a little prayer

And thanked God, that he was there

Oh, this is a dream come true

Dreams do come true

I know 'cause I found you

I never thought they did

But now I do

Dreams do come true

It was love at first sight

And it was love all night

And the way he made love to me

Fulfilled all my fantasies

Ooo, this is a dream come true

Yes, dreams do come true

I know 'cause I found you

I never thought they did

But you're living proof

That dreams do come true

Dreams do come true

And I am so in love with you

Thinking of the song made me think of the previous night. When he slowly made love to me after the kids were tucked in for the night.

I was so lost in thought I didn't realize we were pulling up to the house.

"We're here, we're here."

The sound of the kids' voices pulled me back to the present. I was so lost in thought, I had not realized we had stopped in front of the house.

We let them out of the car and watched them scamper off to the front door.

"Bella, sweetheart, this is not the time for your thoughts to be running in that direction, but maybe we could slip away to our meadow for some fun while the kids have cookies and milk with Grandma Swan." He whispered so the kids didn't overhear, and started asking more questions, or demanding to go to the meadow too.

I kissed his cheek and laughed. I was looking forward to another wonderful Sunday with my husband, my father, my kids and Grandma Swan. Life could not get any better than that and knowing Grandma Swan would be there for my kids and their kids and on and on was extremely comforting.

"I was only thinking of how perfect my life was, and it keeps getting better," I said as I gazed into those beautiful golden eyes. Yes, dreams do come true.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX THE END XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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A/N:

Many thanks to the group at Project Team Beta especially Pain Jane & BelleDuJour who did a wonderful job cleaning up my many gramatical errors.

After much soul searching and days of driving myself crazy thinking of a name for this story—I went from _Stories My Grandma Told Me_, to _Destiny_ to _Destiny's Child_, I almost went with _The House At The Edge Of The Woods_ but thought that sounded like a scary story, I even flirted with _You Don't Know How Long I've Waited For You_. Finally, I settled on _Dreams Do Come True,_ and I think the name is perfect.

Anyone who read my multi chapter story knows I love finding that perfect song, and as luck would have it, I found one for this story too. I love the internet. There is a wealth of information waiting at your fingers tips.

Characteristics of witches can be found by doing an internet search. I visited the following site:

http : / ezinearticles . com / ? Do-You-Have-Natural-Witch-Characteristics

Article Source: /2399237/?expert=Francesca_Ashcroft

For more on Dhampir and links to other half-breed folklore visit:

http : / en . Wikipedia . org / wiki /Dhampir


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